


Revenge is a Dish Best Served... Peachy?

by Millberry_5



Series: Peachy the Series [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha CC-2224 | Cody, Alpha CT-7567 | Rex, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Mob, Gray Morality, M/M, Mild Angst, Not Beta Read, Omega Obi-Wan Kenobi, Quinlan is only in one scene but it's important dangit, it's a mafia au what do you expect?, not much action for a mafia AU though, not quite behavior but the intent is definitely there, possessive thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:07:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21667168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millberry_5/pseuds/Millberry_5
Summary: The Fett branch of the Mandalorian mafia is back in San Francisco after the massacre so many years ago. They're building back up before they reveal themselves again, however. Mainly by slowly infiltrating the criminal underground as mercenaries and other supposedly independent, small time criminals.During this time, Cody and Rex are given a very important mission: infiltrate the Jedi family, that slaughtered the old clan Fett, by being hired as bodyguards for the Jedi boss.The man that they end up protecting, however, turns out to be not at all who they expected. And no one, least of all the man himself, could have expected the role he will end up playing.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi/CT-7567 | Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi/CT-7567 | Rex
Series: Peachy the Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681540
Comments: 41
Kudos: 624
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs Exchange 2019





	Revenge is a Dish Best Served... Peachy?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [litra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/gifts).



> A treat for Litra, who's letter included a list of likes that smashed together into this monstrosity.
> 
> Also please note that I have never watched/read _The Godfather_ , nor have I ever studied the mafia. So I have only vague knowledge of the how the mob works in pop culture or real life.

“Six attempts? Cody, there’s no way this guy’s been boss for less than a year. Let alone seven months,” Rex muttered in Māori as they walked down the street to their new assignment, San Franciscan sun making the paper in his hands look as bright as a camera flash.

“Don’t think they have much reason to lie about that, not for what they’re hiring us for, at least,” Cody said back, strolling down the hill like they weren’t stuck walking in stuffy suits in truly oppressive sunlight because their next client was meeting them nowhere near any streetcar routes. At least the breeze from the harbor made the weather somewhat bearable.

Rex finished reading the piece of paper for the third time, making sure he really had the whole thing memorized, before taking out his lighter and setting the information aflame, casually putting it in an ashtray left in a windowsill when it started burning close to his fingers.

They had been given their actual mission verbally - no need for a paper trail, burnable or not.

* * *

Eventually Cody led him to a Victorian styled building, where they delivered too few passcodes and were allowed to keep far too many weapons, in Rex’s opinion, they weren’t a part of this family, after all, and were eventually led to a salon to wait.

A hunched old man eventually hobbled in on a solid looking cane, a faint alpha scent wafting off of him, probably intimidating and impressive when he was younger, but age had diffused it into something almost fragile. He was flanked by members acting bodyguard for him, making Rex wonder just how much they actually needed him and Cody. The old man beckoned them to follow.

They were led down a maze of hallways – and Rex could now confirm that the Jedi had knocked out the walls of multiple houses to make a mansion for their base – to a door with only slightly nicer carvings than the others, its importance mainly denoted by the fancy gilded door handle.

The hunched man knocked on the door before letting them in himself without waiting for an answer.

The office they walked into was as nice as Rex expected, filled with expensive and old-looking things. The sheer amount of books around the room and paperwork on the desk was less expected. It was also windowless, with a few lamps to keep it workable, albeit dim.

Sitting at the desk was a ginger man who looked both not quite as pretty and far more dignified and graceful than the sketch Rex had been looking at an hour ago.

Obi-Wan Kenobi looked up at all of them from his paperwork as they filed through the door, the old man, definitely the retired boss, Yoda, hopped into a chair across from the new boss.

“Grandfather, we didn’t an appointment today. Is there something you need?” Kenobi asked diplomatically, his voice was shockingly pleasant, and Rex wondered if that might be a bit of why the Jedi family seemed to be keeping relatively stable alliances and agreements despite going through so many bosses and assassination attempts recently.

Rex noted the brace on the man’s left wrist as he propped his head on his clasped hands.

“Appointment, we have not. Bodyguards, however, you have,” Yoda said. The speech pattern was curious, Rex had heard a lot of immigrants speak English as their second language, but not like that.

Kenobi let out a little sigh through his nose before opening his mouth to speak. Yoda interrupted before he could.

“Need them, you do. Deny this again, you shall not. Already here, they are. Already payed for, their services are,” Yoda declared. Which, well, half of their fees were paid, the other half was going to be paid at the end of each month they were still hired, so long as they were effective enough to keep Kenobi alive.

So if Jango had his way, there’d probably be at least one month where they didn’t get that back half, but if everything went according to that plan, the lack of pay would be both worth it and more than covered.

Kenobi and Yoda had a half-minute stare down before the young boss audibly sighed through his mouth and capitulated.

“Very well, you’re right. They are here already, after all,” he said. Rex hoped that Kenobi wouldn’t take his obvious displeasure at the situation – as weird of a thing it was to be displeased with a dedicated security force – out on them. Rex was confident he could handle any non-life-threatening sadism, especially for this job, but that didn’t mean he wanted to do so.

Yoda hummed, obviously pleased, and hopped off the chair. He hobbled back out the door, his entourage following him, and then it was just him, Cody, and the head of the Jedi in the room.

Now that the others were gone, Rex could smell Kenobi. It was a weak beta scent, a bit bitter, almost like cleaning chemicals, as well. The man really was displeased with the situation. Regardless of if the weak scent was Kenobi being the sort that could and chose to hold back his scent or just not having a strong scent to begin with, the displeasure would have to very strong to let out that much more bitterness.

Kenobi cleared his throat after a moment of them all just staring at each other, he and Cody perfectly at attention, Kenobi looking more like a secretary or professor grading than a mafia boss.

“Yes, well, as I’m sure you’re both aware, I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi, boss of the Jedi family. I’m afraid my grandfather never gave me your names?” the man asked, voice still smooth and pleasant and if he hadn’t been using that to his family’s advantage, Rex would buy a hat and eat it.

“Cody.”

“Rex.”

They didn’t even need to look at each other, keeping their gazes locked on Kenobi, the man they were supposed to protect. The man who just stared at them for a moment, face revealing nothing, perfectly neutral and polite.

“Pleasure to meet you both. I’m afraid I don’t have much for you to do, especially not today. It’s all office work. Please, make yourselves comfortable, I’m sure you can entertain yourselves,” Kenobi said, gesturing to the other half of the office that had actual couches and chairs and a table whose underside had an assortment of games. Cards and chips and boards.

Kenobi watched them cross over and take their seats, not shifting his gaze until Cody selected a pack of cards and started counting to make sure it was a full deck.

“Someone will be by with lunch in an hour and a half,” he said, voice still unerringly polite and pleasant, then turned back to whatever paperwork he was doing.

Rex had honestly expected some sort of test from the man, who Rex would have pegged as more phycological fighter than a brawler; but if that had been it, then Rex had no idea if they had just passed or failed.

* * *

Kenobi stood up and walked around the room once every half-hour, then went back to paperwork.

During lunch – a high quality seafood dish and salad that could have used far better seasoning, in Rex’s opinion – he joined them and asked them about San Francisco, how long they had been there, how much they liked it, if the weather agreed with them. It was like Rex had found himself in one of Echo’s old regency novels, except Kenobi didn’t seem to care about how polite or robust their responses were, instead seeming to be more invested in the actual content of their spartan answers.

Kenobi went back to his paperwork routine as soon as someone came and took their dishes. He and Cody played checkers.

Kenobi was called to a dinner meeting with Yoda, the only person that could reasonably call the boss to a meeting, and he and Cody were given a tour of the mansion plus a quick dinner.

They were given the room next to Kenobi’s suite; which was two rooms with the wall knocked down again, and that they had been allowed to survey for a few minutes before Kenobi actually went to bed.

* * *

The next few days went much the same way. Kenobi had a few meetings that they were allowed to stand guard in, both in his office and in other parts of the mansion, and a few that they had to stand guard outside.

They eventually went through all the games in Kenobi’s office, and after they had started on their tenth game of war in a row, Kenobi told them in no uncertain terms that he was used to working in noise as well as silence, and he was sure they were capable of moving the furniture, so if they wanted to do some actual exercise while stuck in his office all day, they definitely should.

Rex was tempted to tease the man about the offer, he knew what he and Cody looked like, after all – and Kenobi had talked to them and the few other non-Pākehā they’d seen as he did anyone else, a welcome difference from most in the city – but Kenobi was still very much his boss and the Jedi boss.

Besides, the man continued to studiously ignore them when he checked to see if they were being watched. He couldn’t even tell if Kenobi was interested in men or alphas or not with how much he was focusing on paperwork instead.

* * *

They finally got to go outside, for the first time in a week – it was no wonder the man was so pale – to escort Kenobi to a Sunday morning mass. They had no reason to actually join and even old Yoda agreed that even if anyone would dare try anything, it would come from outside and that they were well protected inside. He and Cody waited on the steps and watched the notably less crowded streets.

“So, Kenobi’s… something,” Rex began. Cody snorted. One of the benefits of being in San Francisco was that if anyone could actually understand them speaking Māori then they were probably from the Mandalorian family, if not Fetts themselves. Privacy was practically guaranteed.

Still, they had been very careful with what they were saying in the Jedi mansion itself. There was no telling who might have learned, or was recording to translate later, when they knew who they were getting for their new bodyguards.

“Certainly not the liveliest boss, especially considering his age,” Cody replied.

“For a man who seems very good at his work, he certainly seems to not… enjoy it,” Rex continued. People didn’t usually enjoy running a mafia, even if they enjoyed the benefits, but Kenobi seemed to take it to a new, weary, obligation-bound level. Cody hummed in agreement.

“He is good at his work. I’m not sure if you noticed the dates on the few bits of paperwork he let us see, by the way,” and that was another interesting thing about Kenobi, for a man who constantly had piles of paperwork out, he somehow managed to keep almost all of its contents secret. Rex was still impressed by the skill, “but most of what he seems to be doing is transcribing and refiling old paperwork,” Cody said.

Rex thought on that.

“He seems more of a reader than Echo, so I’m not surprised that one of his projects, after being made boss so recently, has been getting it sorted out,” Not that Echo was always the best to trust with paperwork, he was quite distractible, especially if Fives was around, but the point still stood.

“It also explains the scent a bit,” Cody continued. Rex grunted his agreement.

Kenobi had continued to have a bitter scent throughout the week, so it was probably because of general stress, both due to having to redo an entire mafia family’s paperwork and running a mafia family, rather than distress and dislike of having a security detail like they had first thought.

“Still, can’t say we know the man too well. He’s polite, not as racist as the other Europeans around here, good at paperwork, seems to like good organization and not like being a mafia boss. Builds routines when left to his own devices,” Cody concluded. Which, yeah, wasn’t much for them to work with. Or report.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, they continued to not do much but stand around and keep their eyes peeled. Although they did seem to pass whatever trial period they had been in because Kenobi eventually started having a few meetings outside of the Jedi base.

Those were a bit more exciting, just for the sights, not any actual action besides posturing, although he and Cody made sure they kept their guards up. The Japanese tea garden in particular had been enjoyable.

Through it all, Kenobi continued to be polite and unflappable, no matter the subtle or not so subtle insults. Or odd choices of hosting. Although Rex still wasn’t sure some of those weren’t insults as well.

Kenobi didn’t really share much with them, which was fair, they didn’t share much with him either. Not that they could. But Kenobi hadn’t even asked them for their last names, hadn’t even asked about the mercenary service they had come from, despite having off-handedly mentioned it a few times.

No, instead they continued polite conversations over lunch that became more familiar, even if Kenobi was still just as private.

They’d actually started joking with each other, sassing back and forth.

Honestly, that was probably the biggest breakthrough Rex had made in understanding Kenobi. Down deep inside somewhere, Kenobi was enough of a sarcastic bastard and jerk to keep up with Cody. Which he knew had impressed his brother. It had impressed him too, to be fair, even if he had been struggling between being delighted and worried about there being two people like Cody when he had first made the realization.

* * *

They came out of a meeting that Rex knew would have made Jango start planning murder and placed Kenobi between them in the car.

Rex carefully watched Kenobi out of the corner of his eye. His jaw may or may not have been clenched to show a bit of displeasure. His scent was starting to get a bit more bitter as well, though Rex doubted he would have noticed if he and Cody hadn’t already spent two months mainly in a room with the beta’s regular scent.

All of the meetings of the day meant that Kenobi was doing more paperwork and dinner in his office that evening. Cody broached the topic only a few minutes into dinner.

“So, today’s meeting…” he prompted. Kenobi glanced up at him for half a second before going back to his food, “Don Ricci seems to have a very distinct vision. I take it you don’t agree?”

Kenobi’s hand spasmed before gripping his knife even tighter. Kenobi looked up at them, glaring, and Rex wasn’t sure he was more impressed with the cold fury or the beta’s ability to look like that while keeping his scent under control. His own scent lessened and softened in its own, subconscious way.

“I most certainly did not,” Kenobi said, and the cold, furious look in his eyes had nothing on the man’s tone. Rex could easily see how a man like this kept control of a Mafia family and its powers stable after the previous boss was murdered and then he was targeted as well.

“I think that Don Ricci is playing games with high gambles. Of which any losses won’t be felt by him for some time. Be a don, fine. Being a don means you do things that don’t go down in history as good or noble, fine. But being in charge of a family means taking care of the family, at least. And I would expect at least a token effort at protecting the civilians you claim under your protection,” Kenobi looked down again and went back to cutting up his lamb as he continued.

“Instead he makes plans that don’t benefit any of those under his protection, risks them and his people unnecessarily. And for what? A bit more money? The man has a wardrobe full of imported silk already, he’s not exactly struggling for food on the table. No, maintaining, looking for opportunities, doing enough to keep things going and his people taken care of should be his goals. Instead he’s risking and endangering all of that on gambles that will only really benefit him. It’s practically malignant. Against his own people.”

Kenobi finished his impassioned speech, staring down at the thoroughly and perfectly diced meat on his plate for a moment before reaching for the salt.

The calm, gentle movements were a complete turnaround from the still carefully bridled fury he had shown only a moment ago. It seemed like an almost effortless elegance, whose effortlessness Rex was now questioning.

“Apologies, that outburst was quite uncouth,” Kenobi said, voice almost back to calm. The bitter parts of the man’s scent were still much more prominent than usual.

“Not as uncouth as Ricci’s tie, though,” Cody said to break the tension. Rex couldn’t help but groan, because he didn’t always get western fashions, but he really couldn’t imagine _that_ as ever being a good idea. Especially with a brown suit.

Kenobi snorted. Which was a light, enjoyable sound to Rex’s ears.

“Oh, come now, I thought it had some potential. For example, I saw a pile of trash on our way back that I thought it would have matched quite well,” Kenobi said, impish grin growing on his face.

* * *

Rex lay in his bed that night, staring at the ceiling. It was hard to sleep in the summer when there wasn’t any wind to cool the air. Which apparently made it the perfect time for his brain to reflect.

“It’s hard to be a good man and a mob boss,” he said in Māori. Cody snorted.

“What was your first clue?” Cody sassed. The jerk. Because yes, the Mandalorian family, almost exclusively Māori, were mainly in this trade because of desperation. But they didn’t pretend being practically forced into it made their criminal activities not bad.

“How long do you think he’ll last?” Rex asked. He still wasn’t sure how Kenobi, how Obi-Wan, had gotten to be a boss while being a good man, like he seemed to be. Or at least seemed to still have parts of him be.

“It hasn’t even been a year, Rex. Depends on how long it takes for some deals to go sour, probably,” Cody said.

“I wonder if he could have been like… a civil servant. They do paperwork, you know?” Rex asked. Cody didn’t answer for a moment.

“I don’t want to kill him,” Cody said. Rex bolted upright at the confession, not able to see Cody with the little amount of light coming through their narrow window, “I will. When Jango says to. But I won’t want to,” Cody continued, voice as steady and matter-of-fact as ever.

Rex rolled his eyes, even though Cody couldn’t see, and thought for a moment before laying back down

“I like him. I won’t like betraying him, especially if Jango tells us to kill him,” Cody scoffed at him for that, “dad could have someone else do it, is all I’m saying,” he explained, “But yeah, killing him is going to suck. He’s polite. Nice. Kind. You know, he was so proper, when we first met him, that I thought we had stepped into one of Echo’s Regency romances.”

“What, you’re going to wait for him to propose to you?” Cody snarked back, because he was an asshole, especially when Rex wanted to talk about feelings. Especially when they involved anyone not in their family.

“No. Like hell I’m becoming a Jedi. I just… I don’t know, I want to be pleasant back to him? But actually pleasant, not just to get along for the mission,” Rex said. And yeah, he might be better than Cody at emotions, but he also had his limits. He had definitely just hit his limit on vulnerability.

Rex settled and almost fell asleep when Cody spoke.

“He is… does seem, pretty lonely, for mafia boss. No reason we can’t be friends, especially since he probably doesn’t have long,” Cody said.

* * *

“There’s a diner I haven’t been to in a while. I was thinking we might go to lunch there, if you don’t mind,” Obi-Wan said, after only a week of Rex and Cody actually trying to be friends with him.

It had been slow going, Rex thought they weren’t going to get past the friendly-coworkers stage for a decade, for how little Kenobi had seemed to be responding. But apparently, the man was even better at hiding non-scented emotions.

“Sounds promising,” Cody answered while Rex was ruminating.

Obi-Wan rewarded them with a smile, it looked similar to his usual pleasant one, but something was a bit softer, a bit warmer. Something in Rex relaxed at the sight.

One of the actual members of the Jedi family narrowed his eyes at Obi-Wan wanting to go out, but the diner was apparently nearby, and there hadn’t been anymore attempts since Rex and Cody got here, so they got to leave without much fuss. Especially once the man, whatever his name was, saw how well equipped he and Cody were.

They were about fifty yards from the dinner, as Obi-Wan pointed it out as soon as he could see it, when Rex heard someone run towards them from behind.

He quickly turned, hand going to the pistol hidden on the inside of his suit jacket and putting himself in front of Obi-Wan, as he saw Cody start to raise a fist and go for a hidden knife out of the corner of his eye.

Then Obi-Wan was gently pushing his hand down and stepping in front of him and _what was that idiot doing?_

“Quin!” Obi-Wan called out, arms raising a bit for a hug. Rex quickly glanced at Cody, who looked only a quarter as confused as Rex felt, which was still very confused.

The man, Quin, apparently, slammed into Obi-Wan and pushed them back a few steps as they embraced, spinning around a few times as they held on and laughed.

Obi-Wan had chuckled at them, given some polite laughs in a few meetings. But this laugh was light and joyful. It didn’t belong to a mob boss. Rex couldn’t help but enjoy the sound, enjoy it coming from Obi-Wan.

Aue. He had it bad, didn’t he?

“Bastard!” Quin said, a wide grin on his face, “Where the fuck did you go? You just up and disappeared on all of us last year! Profs said some vague story about family stuff. You owe me an explanation. Also, what’s with the suit? I almost didn’t recognize you out of your sweaters,” Quin said, poking a finger right into Obi-Wan’s chest. It put Rex a bit on edge. People weren’t supposed to get that close to mafia bosses. But Obi-Wan and Quin were still holding onto each other’s elbows and smiling and Obi-Wan smelled a little less bitter and he was actually smiling.

Yeah, he really had it bad.

Not that Cody seemed to have it any better. Rex could read his brother quite well. The parts of his posture that also didn’t think anyone should be that close to the mafia boss they were protecting, the parts that didn’t like anyone else being that close to Obi-Wan, and the parts that liked seeing Obi-Wan like this.

Rex stepped forward.

“Quin, was it? Are you a friend or…” Rex let his voice trail off in a question. Obi-Wan blushed a bit, which, if it wasn’t for the implication that blushed caused, Rex thought he would quite liked it.

“Pardon my manners,” Obi-Wan said, which got him a look from Quin that reminded Rex of when Cody or another relative smelled blood in the water for the sake of embarrassing him, “may I introduce Quinlan Vos. He’s a friend of mine from university. Vos, I would like to introduce Rex and Cody, they’ve been invaluable since I came back to San Francisco. We were actually about to get some lunch, if you’d like to join us,” Obi-Wan said, gesturing at the diner.

“Is that Dex’s old diner?” Vos asked, “Flo’s now?”

“The one and only,” Obi-Wan replied, tone wistful.

“Then there’s no time like the present, is there?” Vos said, herding them all towards it.

Rex shared a look with Cody. This was not a side of Obi-Wan they’d seen. At all. Quinlan was obviously a regular civilian, or at least only knew Obi-Wan in that way. They needed to play everything safe. It would probably also be a good way to get more information and insight on Obi-Wan. A tall order to do with no warning.

But there was a reason Jango had trusted them with the Jedi mission.

“So family stuff?” Vos opened the discussion once they sat down. Rex looked for a menu or server. Absently sniffing the air and identifying Vos as a beta now that the wind wasn’t blowing away the scent. Closer to the omega end of the spectrum than most betas, but definitely a beta.

“Trust me, you just wait for them to bring you food. It’s for the best,” Obi-Wan said before answering Vos, “Yes. Family business. You recall that I told you my father died?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Yes. Besides the rumors from the one time he visited you on campus, though, that’s literally all I know about your family. Unless these guys got adopted in too,” Vos said, pointing at both Rex and his brother.

“Yes, well… My father died after my grandfather had, and my great-grandfather couldn’t handle the grief for too long, especially since he was not capable of taking over the family business again. So great-grandfather asked me to come back as soon as possible,” Kenobi explained. Which sounded perfectly normal to a civilian ear and, as far as Rex was aware, did not contain a single lie. Obi-Wan really was good.

“And these two? Part of the business? Also adopted?” Was Obi-Wan actually adopted? “also, your family’s in business?! What kind and is this why you hated that one economics kid?”

“My family is in trade, hence the business associates from New Zealand that I thankfully quite like working with,” and that was nice to hear, especially if Obi-Wan was continuing his trend of not technically lying, “and I argued with Bruck because he was wrong about everything but the most basic analysis and was quite willing to put others down in his pride the few times he was right. May his business ventures teach him humility,” Obi-Wan said. Which caused their whole table to try to hold in a laugh.

“Fair enough, although after seeing you and Satine go at it, I’m not sure I can call what was happening with you and Bruck ‘arguing’, that implies a lot more capability on his part. You know she was actually pretty devastated by you leaving so suddenly. We all wondered if you two had gone and gotten married behind our backs like we kept teasing you to,” Vos continued. And Vos really was sending Rex’s brain down lightning fast paths with all the implications, all the possibilities.

Had Obi-Wan been courting someone before becoming the Jedi boss? How involved was he with the family before being called back to be the boss? Was he actually at a university or was that code? The only Satine he knew of was… no, that was too unlikely.

“You know, Quin, we almost did,” Obi-Wan responded as a waitress came over and set down plates of food. Quite distracting from any questions about why or how he left, “we’d actually been courting. And it was as tumultuous as you might imagine-”

“No. We all thought you’d both simmer down if you got to interact in more positive ways,” Vos interrupted, looking shocked.

“Well, you were wrong about that, we wouldn’t always, but obviously everything else was as intense as usual, perhaps even more, actually,” Obi-Wan said, rubbing the back of his neck, “regardless, we both proposed to each other one night. At the same time. It was a very romantic evening. Then we got into an argument about that. It got so bad that neither of us accepted the other’s proposal and we agreed to both take a few days to cool down. I think we both had epiphanies after that. We loved each other, but our romance wasn’t meant for marriage. For a stable home or family. We went on a few more dates after that to help wind the relationship down, then a few more platonic dates, then we were back to normal.”

Vos looked gob smacked at that, even as Obi-Wan casually started eating his food, which… Rex had lived with Cody long enough to recognize when someone was turning a weapon around to wield it. He really shouldn’t find this as amusing as he did.

The rest of the meal featured many more implications, as well as questions from Vos that Obi-Wan expertly side-stepped with selective truths.

Rex was a little concerned with what Vos had claimed Obi-Wan’s old work habits were. Or study habits, as was probably more accurate. It really didn’t seem like university had been code for anything, but that Obi-Wan actually had been a normal student before getting dragged to San Francisco to be a mafia boss. But that was also absurd, even for the Jedi.

* * *

“So, you were at a university before this, then?” Cody asked once they got back to Obi-Wan’s office, casually moving across the room to lounge on the couch.

Obi-Wan startled by the desk before carefully moving to his chair and sitting down, saying nothing.

Cody looked at him, calculating.

“I want to say something that I don’t think is rude, but given that you never talk about your past, Obi-Wan, it might be so personal you take offense to it, if I have you measured correctly,” Cody said. Rex stayed a few steps in from the door.

Obi-Wan gave Cody a calculating look in return, gaze flickering over to Rex before answering.

“And if I’ve measured you correctly, I can say that I’m offended by the invasiveness and you’ll respect that,” Obi-Wan said. Cody smiled at that. Rex made his way to a chair.

“Indeed. You don’t seem like the sort of person to become a mafia boss. Rex and I have seen plenty, even before we started to follow you around. Don’t see how you got here, especially if you were a regular university student before. I didn’t think that the Jedi were so short on candidates for their boss,” Cody said, voice even. Rex kept his eyes going between the two, because Cody was playing a bit of a risky gambit, even if Rex trusted Obi-Wan to not have them shot. For once in this whole mafia-as-mercenaries masquerade he was pretty sure the worst that would happen to them was getting fired.

Obi-Wan was quiet for almost an entire minute, just staring at Cody, jaw clenched.

“It’s one thing to hear me complain about other bosses not doing a good job. It’s another to hear me whine about how I got here,” Obi-Wan said, voice careful, like he was tiptoeing through shattered glass. Cody gave Obi-Wan a judgmental eyebrow for it.

“I’ve heard a lot of sob stories over the years. They don’t often effect how I feel about people at this point,” Cody said, dry. And he wasn’t wrong, practically everyone in the business had one. The Mandalorian mafia, the Fett branch especially, had enough misery for the whole world. Cody never let someone’s tragic backstory get in the way of work.

Obi-Wan stared for another few moments before letting out an almost broken sounding chuckle.

“Yes, I suppose, as unusual as mine is, you’ve definitely heard far worse,” Obi-Wan sighed and leaned back in his chair, “growing up, I was vaguely aware that my extended family was involved in conduct that wasn’t quite… proper. But I never really directly saw anything, let alone got involved. Still, by the time I was finishing high school, I figured out that my father was a half-estranged member of a branch family. He was also becoming less estranged. I wanted no part of it, still hadn’t been involved. So, when I got my scholarship, I moved across the country to go to university,” Obi-Wan explained. He decided to start organizing the papers on his desk, their perfect piles apparently not good enough.

“I heard that my grandfather died, and my father asked me to come back for the funeral. He started implying that he wanted me to stay and help out, so I ran away again. I later found out that Dooku, my grandfather,” and Rex had to hold in a reflexive snarl at that name, “had tried to leave the family and take his heir and her family with him. The second in line branch took offense at this for some reason, and those two branches effectively killed each other. Dooku was murdered while they were battling it out. My father was next in line,” Obi-Wan stopped his useless rearranging to rub at his temples.

“So of course, he wants me as his heir, especially after a few years as the boss, not that he’ll come right out and say so, while I’m over at Princeton. So I’m vaguely estranging myself from the small bit of family I actually know, then the man has the gall to come to my campus, storm into the lab, almost ruins a few teams’ experiments that they’ve been working on all semester and demands to speak with me,” Obi-Wan said, voice starting to shake. And Rex couldn’t really blame him. Nor for the bitter scent that had come back full force since it had almost disappeared at the diner. Obi-Wan had been raised as a civilian. If this story was going where Rex thought it was, it would be a true miracle that the man hadn’t been institutionalized by now.

“And he does this when I’m less than a semester from getting my PhD. Then because he stayed around for a week after I told him to leave me alone and go back, he gets shot and killed. So now my father and grandfather, whom I never even met, by the way, are both murdered and dead because of this whole business and then my great-grandfather shows up and drags me back here because apparently my father had made me heir, and it didn’t matter how inexperienced or unwilling I was-” Obi-Wan cut himself off as his voice raised and started to crack, not just shake.

He buried his face in his hands and Rex finally glanced at Cody, who nodded, and they both got up slowly, as quietly as they could.

“I didn’t want to do this! Any of it! I don’t want to make deals about how many drugs or guns are allowed through a certain port. I was studying history! And botany! I wanted to be a professor! A friend of mine – Bant – was studying to be a doctor. We kept saying we’d get jobs near each other and write a book about whichever area’s medical history of plants, so people could avoid bad plants and make home remedies when they couldn’t afford a doctor. And that would be good, helpful work!” Obi-Wan said, almost rambling, finally sounding furious.

He tore his face out of his hands and quickly surveyed the room, obviously startled when he saw Rex standing so close. Rex put a comforting hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder.

“And now I’m here, and I receive drug dealers trying to negotiate territory to get people addicted, instead of students wanting help on their theses. And instead of my friends, I have a great-grandfather who pops in from time to time instead of supporting me, a mafia family that respects my title but doesn’t care about me, and you two,” Obi-Wan said, voice quiet, sounding almost fragile.

Rex moved down to give Obi-Wan a hug, because the man had seemed to like it when Vos did it, and was rewarded with the bitter scent finally lifting as he hugged Obi-Wan a bit tighter and closer than intended. Obi-Wan hugged back tentatively and Rex was prepared to keep him held until Cody came back from the powder room with a glass of water, but instead he breathed in and froze.

Obi-Wan seemed to register what had happened because he tensed for a moment before pushing back and away out of Rex’s arms, but it was too late to avoid it.

Under the bitter scent, which Rex had always thought smelled a bit chemical, under the now spent faint beta scent, was a sweetness, a bit peachy Rex thought, that didn’t belong to a beta.

“Let me guess, the perfume wore off?” Cody said dryly. Rex immediately turned to glare because it was not time for Cody’s assholery right now, only to see Cody in the powder room, glass still empty and medicine cabinet open, looking almost shocked.

“Yes, I suppose it did,” Obi-Wan said, obviously frightened and trying to keep calm. Rex noticed that he was blocking Obi-Wan’s exit unless the man decided to vault over the desk, but Cody was subtly signing at him to stay and filling up the cup with tap water. He took something from the cabinet before closing it and joining them at the desk.

Rex didn’t find himself enjoying the cautious, scared look Obi-Wan was giving them from his seat. Wide-eyed and so tense he was shaking. It was very unlike him.

Cody offered Obi-Wan the glass, who cautiously took it, before setting down the object from the medicine cabinet. Rex recognized the perfume as a scent disguiser, usually not effective unless-

“There’s a prescribed suppressor in the cabinet as well,” Cody said to him softly in Māori.

Obi-Wan looked at them suspiciously before apparently deciding it wasn’t worth pressing. He took a sip from the glass of water, which caused Cody to nod and move around the desk, tapping Rex’s elbow twice to tell him to follow. They sat on the two chairs on the other side.

“So let me get this straight, you’re an omega raised without any knowledge about how the criminal underworld works, only to be dragged into it without much warning or any support, to be a _mafia boss_ , and then were forced to accept two unknown, not-even-in-the-family-you-were-trying-to-learn-to-trust, alphas as bodyguards who spend basically all day within twenty yards of you?” Cody asked, tone clearly saying that he thought it was the most ridiculous thing ever.

“I don’t see why being an omega or alphas matters in this, but yes, that isn’t inaccurate,” Obi-Wan replied, a bit huffy, voice a bit less weak than it had been a moment ago.

“Given some things Vos said at lunch today, it seems like you weren’t suppressing at university, so I think you know exactly why it’s relevant,” Rex said, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t quite as impressive as Cody’s, but he couldn’t help himself. Obi-Wan just looked down, though not quick enough to hide the start of a blush. Hopefully not out of shame.

Rex glanced at Cody, because while Obi-Wan was right, it wasn’t the worst story they heard, it was still awful and ridiculous, especially with Obi-Wan being an omega, which were always targeted and more at risk, especially in the criminal underworld. And somehow, Obi-Wan had managed to get this far with no one to help him. That had to change.

Cody glanced back, understanding in his eyes.

* * *

They sat on the floor of their room that night, a candle lit between them, talking in low tones, even if they had confirmed that one spoke Māori in the house and no one was usually listening in on them, for this sort of thing they wanted to take no chances.

“The man really had no reason to even be here, except for a bunch of assholes’ whims. Most Americans actually care about bloodline as well, so the adopted son is an even weirder choice and means he probably has even less support than we thought,” Rex whispered.

“Yeah, but even though he didn’t want to come doesn’t change the fact that he’s been a damn good boss for over nine months now, he can’t exactly get out. Look what happened with Dooku,” Cody whispered back, a darkly satisfied grin growing on his face at the mention of the man’s death. But he was also right in the first half. They’d seen Obi-Wan negotiate many criminal deals, order two executions, and, slight obsession with proper filing and actually helping people aside, had acted much like a San Franciscan boss was supposed to during their time bodyguarding him.

The man already had blood on his hands. And that sort of thing never actually came off.

“I know that, but there are things for him to do besides try to leave that aren’t ‘stay a boss and pretend to be a beta with no one to trust’, look at Yoda” Rex said, snorting when he mentioned the old troll, who truly came and went as he pleased in Obi-Wan’s life. Popping by to reprimand and rarely praise Obi-Wan, but also never sticking around to do any of the daily work or help actually operate the family.

No, instead the great-grandfather – who Obi-Wan had followed up his confession by explaining the kind visits from childhood, saying the man had also been so concerned for his safety at Princeton then when the assassination attempts started – left a complete rookie, his heir, to run the family blind.

“I still can’t figure out if he’s Obi-Wan’s consigliere or what, actually. If he is, he’s doing a piss-poor job of it,” Cody snarked. Rex grunted in agreement.

There were, of course, other roles a retired boss could take. There were roles in a proper family, in Rex’s view, that anyone could take that weren’t so directly involved. Rex’s view also didn’t see any proper family in the States, though. In the Mandalorian family, on the other hand…

Rex glanced up to see Cody smirking in that same way his big brother always did when a joke finally payed off.

“Took you long enough,” Cody said, smirk still on his face.

“When did you even think of-” Rex cut himself off. Speaking in Māori or not, saying the next step out loud in what was still technically enemy territory felt too risky.

“When I looked over and saw a broken, frightened omega – who had been complaining to us the other day about his soldiers abusing the family’s influence to leverage poor grandmothers into giving up medical money,” Cody said. And yeah, Cody had gotten a full view of Obi-Wan from the powder room, Rex had been too shocked by the scent to really register the impact of the aesthetic.

“He still doesn’t have anyone to trust here. Vos is not involved and already gone. We’re the closest he has and we’re directly on the man’s payroll, not even part of the family,” Rex pointed out.

“But we will be. Or rather, he will be. I think it makes it a bit easier on us, actually,” Cody said, an almost playful smile growing on his face. Although someone who didn’t know Cody, or wasn’t on his side, would probably be worried about how dark the expression was.

And Cody wasn’t wrong. He and Rex spent the most time with Obi-Wan. Which made it obvious how isolated the man was. And really, Obi-Wan was trying so hard in something he didn’t want to do. Yet none of the Jedi seemed to appreciate all the work he was doing, especially considering how good he was at his work. No warmth or kindness had been extended to their boss.

Obi-Wan may have been dutiful and loyal enough to still put his utmost effort into his unwilling job, but without any actual tethers, it would be relatively easy to get Obi-Wan’s loyalty just by reciprocating, then draw him away when his loyalty was equal. When Obi-Wan was as dedicated to him and Cody as the Jedi, he would choose the option that actually wanted him, fought for him, tried to make him happy.

Getting to that point would still be difficult, of course. But not impossible, nowhere near improbable, even, not for him and his brother.

“He, of course, now has no choice but to trust us with his secret,” Rex doubted most of the Jedi knew Obi-Wan was an omega, or, at the very least, Obi-Wan would have no reason to assume they would think anyone but them knew, “and that secret should be kept and tended to,” and Rex did mean tended, “especially since no one here’s making accommodations for it,” Rex continued. Cody scrunched his nose up at that.

One of the more unpleasant things about the American mafia was that everyone tried to push out their scents and pheromones. Especially given how many alphas were actively in the different mobs, everything stunk. Rex wasn’t one to try to hide his scent, but back home pushing your scent out like that was considered rude and obnoxious at best.

Omegas got stressed by all those aggressive pheromones. Jango had actually put Echo and Fives on paperwork duty while they were still underground after they had gotten into too many bar brawls on their third job in the bay area. The fact that they'd never seen Obi-Wan never even raised his voice at others – until they got him to complain to them once in a while, at least – spoke volumes about how much discipline the man had.

The Jedi had done nothing for Obi-Wan, as their boss, as a shiny in the criminal world, or as an omega, despite him doing so much for this family.

The Jedi really didn’t deserve Obi-Wan. They could take much better care of him.

And they would. Or, well… there was one problem…

“Dad’s not going to like this. Have you thought of a way around that?” Rex asked. Because unwilling and amazing and a still somewhat good man or not, Obi-Wan was still a Jedi. The boss of the Jedi at that.

“Yeah… I’ll start arranging a meeting at the next drop-off,” Cody said, looking a little nervous. Rex couldn’t blame him.

* * *

Almost a month after finding out Obi-Wan’s secret and past, Cody came back from his afternoon off with rumpled clothing, a split lip, and a bounce in his step. Obi-Wan startled at his appearance at dinner, taken in Obi-Wan’s office again. The man was insisting on working that evening on a trade deal that he was trying to save after the cops had tracked and caught two of the other party’s boats.

“Cody! What happened? Who did this?” Obi-Wan asked, obviously concerned, even letting a small tendril of anger into his voice, as he rose and crossed the room to fuss.

Well, fuss was a relative term. As comfortable as they had been trying to make Obi-Wan with them, the man still only lightly grabbed Cody’s chin to examine the most visible injury, staying almost arm’s length away. Given he was actually touching them now, however, it was pretty good progress.

They still hadn’t seen anyone else actually touch Obi-Wan since Vos, unless you counted the few times Yoda had assaulted Obi-Wan’s shins with his cane.

“I’m fine, Obi-Wan,” Cody said, gently grabbing the hand and removing it from his face, continuing the contact by moving his grip up to Obi-Wan’s shoulder and guiding him back to the food, stopping to greet Rex with a hongi for a second before joining Obi-Wan on the couch, “I ran into someone from home. We like to wrestle when we meet up,” which was actually true, “we did get a little excited this time, though.”

Obi-Wan just stared for a moment, seeming to process this.

“A friend, then? From childhood or business or-,” Obi-Wan asked before cutting himself off, “sorry if that’s too invasive, you two just haven’t ever talked about your pasts before the Gar Mercenaries. I was just curious,” he continued, trying to backtrack to a more polite distance.

“It’s fine, Obi-Wan, especially since we heard your entire sob story. Seems a bit odd that you know none of ours, actually,” Rex soothed, glad when his pheromones changed to match his desire in that moment.

“Jay’s older than us, was quite a mentor figure for us and a few others,” Cody explained. They’d both gotten better at truthful untruths since they started really talking to Obi-Wan, “he made sure we all knew how to stay alive and take care of each other, even if the methods are, well…” Cody let himself trail off.

“Yes, I can imagine. I had made guesses on probable pasts for you two, but I didn’t want to actually assume,” Obi-Wan said, rubbing at his beard, worried about being rude to them, as per usual. Rex snorted.

“If you were guessing our parents couldn’t take care of us in some way, we were poor, and criminal activity was the best way to ensure we got to eat, then assume away. That’s how it went for most of us back home,” Rex said. Obi-Wan looked down at that, like he was grieving.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” he said after a moment.

“To be fair, your life and your getting into this life hasn’t exactly been peaches and cream,” Cody said. Rex wondered if Obi-Wan noticed how Cody had casually brought their knees to rest against each other. It was a bit more forward than their plan had been, or at least their plan before Cody had gone to see Jango.

“Yes, that’s true. But it wasn’t that bad, especially in childhood. No, my childhood was stable and full of warmth, odd feelings from the little I saw my extended family aside. I wish that you two had gotten something like that. And everyone else,” Obi-Wan looked up, and the soft sort of sadness in his eyes matched his tone. Rex really wished that Yoda, Jinn, or Dooku, whoever really, had kept Obi-Wan out of this life.

“It was stable enough. Rex and I had each other. Now you’re giving us stable work, it’s worked out pretty well for us, regardless of what ideally should or shouldn’t have happened,” Cody said, casually knocking his and Obi-Wan’s knees together. No way the man hadn’t noticed now.

“I suppose it’s a good thing that you’ve made the best of it,” Obi-Wan said. Rex and Cody grunted in agreement as they all finally went back to eating. Obi-Wan casually put a few inches between his knee and Cody’s.

After they had finished, Obi-Wan cleared his throat, “thank you by the way, for not being terribly offended on my views about this part of the underworld. I understand that most would find them… controversial, to say the least.”

Rex glanced at Cody before speaking.

“Not sure if it’s because they’re American or Pākehā, but there’s quite a few folks around here who seem to have deluded themselves into thinking they and their work are more noble than they are. Still don’t get it. But we’re the ones doing it out of necessity, maybe they’re not,” Rex explained. Obi-Wan visibly relaxed at Rex’s words.

“And it’s not like you could avoid it either, you tried to live without this and they dragged you in without choice either,” Cody continued, twisting the knife a bit more obviously than Rex was comfortable with. What had Jango said? “Can I ask about that life, by the way? We know you’re a private person, but I’m a bit curious,” Cody said, echoing Obi-Wan’s reasoning from earlier.

“Yes, of course, I can always tell you when something’s too private, after all,” Obi-Wan replied.

“More about your friends, actually, I’m afraid I don’t have much of a head for plants or history,” Cody said. And Rex had a pretty good idea where Cody was going with this now.

Obi-Wan nodded his consent.

“So we met Vos, who was in forensic science, and you’ve mentioned Bant the doctor, so I presume you all met in a biology or chemistry class. What about the others?” Cody asked.

“Well I met Garen and Siri in history. And Padme and Anakin were in my required literature class. Padme was the one who “convinced” me to try out for the play, which is how I met Reeft and Satine,” Obi-Wan explained.

“You were in plays? Which ones?” Rex asked, jumping on the blood in the water.

“One play. Only one. I don’t even remember what it was called, let alone the plot. I remember a lot of musical numbers, though, and one night I remember not remembering, as the stage manager switched our prop alcohol with actual absinthe, which has now gone down in infamy. I never tried out for another play after that,” Obi-Wan said, a smile, like the ones he had shown in the diner, on his face.

They all laughed at that. Cody came down from it first.

“So wait… Satine. As in, Kryze? Or is there more than one family willing to saddle their children with that awful name,” Cody asked. Rex kept himself looking relaxed as he paid close attention. Obi-Wan looked surprised at the question.

“It’s a lovely name, I think, but yes. Satine Kryze. Do you know her?” he asked, obviously wary now, “I know she’s from New Zealand, but it still seemed like a far stretch for her to know you two just because of that,” Obi-Wan conjectured. Usually, he wouldn’t be wrong.

“Her family’s in politics, so we definitely know _of_ her. Especially when she decided to go to America for university,” Cody said. Obi-Wan settled, relaxing at his worlds separating again.

“That does explain some things about her, and her major, a bit more. Pardon if this is going too far, but do you know if she or her family are also…” Obi-Wan let the question trail off.

“They’re not known for being particularly corrupt or uncorrupt, so I assume it’s about the same as most politicians,” Cody explained. Obi-Wan nodded before standing up to stretch and make his way back to his desk for another round of paperwork.

* * *

“You know, I didn’t expect you to come back quite that ruffled,” Rex said softly in Māori, staring up at the dark ceiling in their room.

“I was asking to spare the boss of the Jedi, you realize?” Cody said, clearly thinking Rex was an idiot.

“To be fair, if it had gone badly, then I didn’t expect you to come back at all,” Rex said. Cody would have been sent on the next ship back home, and Rex would have been abducted and sent with him.

“That is fair, I suppose. He was pretty mad, since he expected better of us. Then I told him Obi-Wan’s sob story, emphasized the timeline and how recent all of his involvement is. And his skill sets. Long story short: if we can get him to join the family, we’re fine. But he wants it done before we make our move on the Jedi – still no set timeline on that,” Cody said, interjecting before Rex could interrupt, “and given the implications of how he said ‘join the family’, it’s a good thing we were considering courting him anyways,” Cody continued, voice casual.

Rex let out a barking laugh in surprise before catching himself.

“Yes, I suppose we were considering it anyways,” he said once he had control of himself.

They laid in silence for a few seconds.

“He almost married a Kryze,” Rex said, disgust and disbelief lacing his voice. He heard Cody make a gagging noise.

“Thankfully he saw how awful that whole family is. We’re clearly the superior option. Almost anyone would be, though,” Cody said. Rex couldn’t help but agree with that. The Jedi and the Kryzes were a particular type of low to their family. And now knowing that Obi-Wan had almost been forever tied to both, was still tied to one, Rex couldn’t help yearning for the moment when they finally stole Obi-Wan away from all of them.

But first, they needed Obi-Wan to want to be stolen.

* * *

A few more casual touches started to make their way into their routine. They made sure that Obi-Wan always sat on the couch with one of them when they ate in his office. They had requested tea a few times from the staff when they were just trying to befriend Obi-Wan, but now one of them left for the kitchen at least once a day to make the tea themselves.

They continued to keep their scents low, tried to release relaxing pheromones when they could. Tried to make Obi-Wan feel safe.

“You know, you don’t have to keep being so accommodating of me,” Obi-Wan said during lunch one day – a salad with ground beef and chips in it, as was apparently in fashion from the Mexicans right now.

“Does it make you feel uncomfortable?” Rex asked, not bothering to pretend he didn’t know what Obi-Wan was referring to.

“No, it’s not that,” Obi-Wan blushed a little, and he really was cute like that, especially when it was Rex and Cody causing it, “well, a bit at the beginning. But I was also uncomfortable because great-grandfather is the only other one here who knows. But it’s not like you’re disrespecting me, it’s just, well, a bit unusual. I keep getting a bit surprised, is all. Are you always like this around people like me?” Obi-Wan still didn’t like to admit he was an omega, for all that Vos had implied he was open about it at Princeton. Given how quickly secrets could spread between criminals sometimes, Rex understood.

“Not usually. But we don’t usually find ourselves the only ones being considerate of other designations, hell, of other alphas. No offense to the Jedi, and all the other families around here, but it reeks,” Cody said. Obi-Wan cracked a smile at that.

“They do stink. It was quite difficult to get used to, when I first got here. But I am used to it now, even if it’s not exactly what I would call pleasant. You don’t need to go out of your way to accommodate me,” Obi-Wan said. Again with that word, accommodate. Did Obi-Wan actually think that someone giving him basic decency, friends being considerate of him, made him such a grievous burden?

“And what if we just don’t want to be as big of asses as the people around us?” Rex asked. Obi-Wan smiled again at that.

“Well, I suppose I have no reason to stop two fine men from being kind,” Obi-Wan ceded.

* * *

That conversation seemed to finally break through to Obi-Wan. He didn’t just tolerate their touches, he accepted them and, after particularly tiring days, even leaned back into them. He gave them small smiles liberally. Once in a while, he even purposefully breathed in their pheromones, when he and Cody managed to get themselves to release very subtle and relaxing ones. Obi-Wan would look sheepishly at them afterwards for doing something that most people did with casual friends, let alone their only friends that spent nearly every waking hour with them.

They did eventually get Obi-Wan to admit that half of the guilt was that he couldn’t release anything back with the suppressors. Except maybe more of the bitter scent. The other half, unfortunately, seemed to still be guilt over taking comfort in something that most would see as a normal need.

But still, it meant that he wanted to reach back to them now. He liked having them around, what they did for him, showed them things that he wouldn’t to others.

It felt so slow and cautious, though, like walking on a tightrope. Like if he and Cody stepped even a little bit wrong, they’d fall off and be relegated back down to business associates.

Rex wasn’t sure they were making any progress at all, really, until they sat down to a dinner that looked almost familiar to him. He saw Cody pause as well.

“I asked the chefs to prepare this, I know it’s probably not quite right, but I thought you might be missing home and something more familiar might be nice for you,” Obi-Wan said, hesitant. He reached up to scratch his beard, which Rex now knew was a nervous tic that he usually suppressed.

He looked back down at the plate that almost looked like it had come out of a hāngi. Mainly made from some sort of bird and sweet potatoes, it looked like.

He and Cody tried it. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely hadn’t actually been cooked in the right sort of oven. But Obi-Wan had tried to provide it because he thought they might miss home, and he had wanted to comfort them a bit.

“You’re correct in saying it’s not quite right. But it’s definitely closer than what we can usually find. Thank you,” Rex said after a few bites. Obi-Wan gave a relieved smile and Rex couldn’t help but smile back, especially when Obi-Wan’s bitter scent became almost non-existent.

Cody leaned a bit more into Obi-Wan as he chewed his food. Obi-Wan just started eating and didn’t even pull away this time.

* * *

He and Cody spent the next two weeks tracking down and getting a book on New Zealand plants for Obi-Wan.

When he handed Obi-Wan the book, the man’s eyes shone with a fascination and excitement that Rex hadn’t seen before.

He and Cody played cards games without paying attention that evening, as Obi-Wan was forgoing paperwork and planning, for once, to sit in a lounge chair and read the book.

It tried his patience, in a very different way than when there didn’t seem to be any progress, to see Obi-Wan actually accept their tentative advances. With such a nice visual for the potential future they were working towards, Rex wanted to move much faster than they could afford.

Obi-Wan was going to be worth the wait, though. He knew it.

* * *

Yoda ordered Obi-Wan to spend ten days at one of the beach properties further South. There was apparently already staff there, so Cody and Rex were the only ones accompanying Obi-Wan on the drive down.

When Cody was driving them down the highway, no other cars around, Obi-Wan explained that he was due for a medical heat, which he needed twice a year with his suppressors, and that there were only going to be the bare minimum of staff running the house. All highly trusted to keep secrets and be discreet.

Rex was glad for the coastal highway winds that made it harder, if not impossible, for Obi-Wan to smell the excitement this situation was causing. They weren’t going to actually share Obi-Wan’s heat, sure, but he trusted them enough to share what was happening, to have them come with him.

They got to the beach house they were apparently going to stay at, and Obi-Wan left to say hello to the staff, asking Rex to tell Cody.

Rex could smell a similar excitement from Cody at the information.

“It’s a good thing Obi-Wan never asks us about our dreams, like old lady Ngaio did,” Cody commented. Which made Rex flush.

They settled in quickly, their room was next to Obi-Wan’s again. And was right next to the basement door, which was where Obi-Wan was actually going to spend his heat when it hit.

By dinner, Obi-Wan’s bitter scent was still present, but starting to disperse, besides a sweeter scent. Peaches and pears, Rex thought. With a slightly breezy quality, so as not to be too potent. Or at least not right now.

Over the next day and a half, they spent their time mainly lounging around. Rex and Cody took turns in the morning staying by Obi-Wan and swimming in the ocean. The San Franciscan bay had been way too dirty and cold for them to want to try, even in the summer.

Rex enjoyed watching Obi-Wan’s reactions to Cody getting in and out of the ocean as much as he enjoyed being in there himself. Not that Obi-Wan’s reactions were overt, but they were almost better for all the effort the man put into trying to appear unaffected.

His scent got a little bit stronger but was much more noticeable mainly due to the lack of bitterness. And Rex continued to enjoy it, as did Cody. With the lack of bitterness also came the ability to actually use his pheromones. And Obi-Wan did let out little bursts of relaxed, satisfied pheromones as he and Cody continued their subtle courting.

Rex did dream about how they’d be able to do this all the time once Obi-Wan was officially theirs. He would have enough support and protection to actually let out his omega scent when he was part of the Fett family.

It was so easy to imagine Obi-Wan reading a book on a beach back home, not having to worry about anyone seeing him as an omega and jeopardizing his position, just existing like he did in this beach house. His other brothers playing in the water, teaching Boba how to swim as Jango watched over them all. Coming out of the water with Cody and drying off to lay next to Obi-Wan, taking a nap with their omega between them, an arm or leg thrown on top of him so he’d have to wake them up and take them with him if he wanted to explore the tide pools or nearby forest.

Rex woke up and had to take a shower before facing Obi-Wan each morning, before dealing with the easy way he seemed to interact with them on so many more levels now. The scent and pheromones were a given, and that definitely added a lot to all of their other interactions. Obi-Wan was obviously very used to being more open with his omeganess, and Rex tried not to dwell on that long enough to get angry about Obi-Wan feeling so pressured and in danger that he had to hide himself. But away from prying eyes and all of the paperwork and crime, finally out of that awful dim office, Obi-Wan was relaxed and actually affectionate.

Well, he was still ridiculously polite and proper in some ways, but Rex and Cody had learned to read him well, even without pheromones to give it away. The slightly softer tones, a less tense shoulder, the mischievous and light glint in his face and eyes when he felt comfortable enough to tease them.

Towards the evening of the third day, he and Cody noticed the beginnings of nesting tendencies. Obi-Wan started to curl up, used two pillows instead of one, and went straight for the softest blanket in whatever room he was in.

Later that night, he also started squirming a little bit, apparently having trouble staying comfortable as his heat approached.

“Tomorrow, then?” Rex asked from where he had been reading the newspaper, but had abandoned the activity in favor of watching Obi-Wan for the past few minutes.

Obi-Wan flinched and grimaced at being spoken to. He had also become less and less talkative throughout the day.

“Yes. Possibly even sometime late tonight,” he said, scent souring a bit for the first time since they came down here. Cody released a bout of soothing pheromones from the door into the kitchen, holding the drinks he had been preparing just a moment ago.

“Are you ready for it?” he asked, handing Obi-Wan a glass before moving over to sit next to Rex on the couch, giving him his drink.

Obi-Wan chewed on his lower lip for a moment before responding, “I’ll be fine.”

“Not exactly the best way to go into a heat,” Cody said, raising a judgmental eyebrow.

“I think it’s a perfectly fine attitude and plan for going into a heat, even if-” Obi-Wan cut himself off, flushing a little.

“Even if?” Rex prompted.

Obi-Wan just looked aside, blush growing redder.

“Have you spent a heat alone before?” Cody asked bluntly, which caused Obi-Wan to almost choke on the sip of alcohol he had been drinking.

Rex stood and patted him on the back, unnecessary, the man could handle a bit of whiskey down the wrong pipe, but he and Cody had made a habit of using any excuse to touch Obi-Wan, who obviously felt it was improper and forward for him to initiate contact under any circumstances. They rarely got him to forget that, although they had managed it a few times.

“I have… I had to last time, it’s not the most pleasant, but I can get through it just fine,” Obi-Wan said once he was able to speak again.

“So you prefer to have someone else with you?” Rex prompted, starting to gently massage Obi-Wan’s shoulders. He only let them do that sometimes, but he practically melted each time they did it, “I know that only using toys can make it hard to really satisfy and balance the hormones. Surely you’ve shared heats before.”

“Yes… I- Well, I have used a service alpha a few times. My friend group in university also had a variety of primary and secondary sexes, we… me and the omegas actually synched up before I left from sharing heats,” Echo and Fives had done that as well, apparently it meant a few days of aggressively trying to nest with and take care of each other, “The betas joined in sometimes as well. We accidentally gave Quin a pseudo-heat one time, which was equally awful and hilarious to figure out after the fact,” Obi-Wan explained. It really was amazing how much looser a tongue could be when a massage loosened the body.

“And so you’ve arranged none of that for this heat?” Cody asked dryly. Rex shot a weak glare at him, because being a snarky jerk could be saved for later.

“Er, no, I didn’t want any of them involved in any of this. And the idea of sharing a heat with someone I didn’t already trust now is… not something I’d be willing to do,” Obi-Wan said, shifting a bit away from Rex’s hands. Rex let him as he glanced back up at Cody to confirm that this was what he had been going after.

Cody gave him a glance that confirmed that yes, they really going to move forward like this. Back to tightrope metaphors, this was definitely the most dangerous, unstable, and shaky part of the entire walk. But Rex couldn’t deny that he wanted the potential payoff of this gambit.

“And what about us?” Rex asked quietly, making sure to take a step back towards Cody to give Obi-Wan a bit more space.

Obi-Wan startled and quickly put his glass down on the coffee table.

“Absolutely not! While I trust you both quite a bit, and I would like to think we have something approaching a genuine friendship, you’re both my employees. I would never pressure you to do this sort of thing!” Obi-Wan said, panic clearly etched on his face, “Wait. You didn’t think- that you were coming down here with me because of… to-,”

“Obi-Wan,” Cody cut off the man’s worried tirade, “you’re not pressuring us into anything. The Jedi family is our current employer, certainly, but we’re capable of leaving whenever we wish. And part of why we keep renewing the monthly contract is because you are our friend, to say the least. And we’re quite invested in your safety because we like you.”

“And because we like you, we’re concerned not only with keeping you alive, but wanting you to be comfortable and happy. We’re more than willing to share your heat with you, especially if it means sparing you a heat alone,” Rex continued, “You, our boss, are not pressuring us. We, your friends, are offering to help you.”

Obi-Wan slowly straightened in his seat, stroking his beard, an almost painfully perplexed look on his face. It took about half a minute for the potential discomfort to win against his currently self-detrimental code of ethics.

“You’re both sure that you want to do this?” Obi-Wan asked cautiously.

“Quite.”

“Very.”

Obi-Wan observed them for a few more moments before nodding.

He picked up his glass and stood up, downing the rest drink in one go, before looking at them again for another long moment.

“I’ll go inform the staff of the change in plans. I suppose I’ll come find you when it hits, then?” he asked, still uncertain.

“We’ll be in our room, just come next door,” Cody said, soft.

Obi-Wan nodded and retreated to the kitchen to clean his glass himself. Rex and Cody stayed and sipped their drinks until they heard Obi-Wan leave, giving the man space.

“This was not how I was expecting this trip to go,” Rex said.

“No, I don’t think we’d ever consider being this fortunate,” Cody replied. Rex grunted in agreement.

* * *

Obi-Wan knocked a bit before 5:30, just before the sun rose. He and Cody woke up immediately, a life like theirs made for light sleepers, and they were quickly opening the door.

Obi-Wan was standing there, flushed, shivering but not yet sweating, and pupils already expanded. Rex quickly moved into the hallway to open the basement door as Cody wrapped an arm around Obi-Wan, who half-collapsed into the hold.

Cody took their omega down first, leaving Rex to close and secure the door. When Rex came down the stairs, Cody was already getting Obi-Wan out of his pajamas and settling him on the bed. The basement was full of plush and luxurious items and furniture, obviously fitted for this sort of thing. It even had electricity and an attached bathroom.

Rex quickly found a tray that hadn’t been down here when they had first gone through the house. He located then handed to Cody the gland blocker, which essentially looked like an oversized eyepatch, in Rex’s opinion, and was made of high-quality leather, with a velvet lining on the actual patch part.

Rex quickly took stock of the rest of the newly added items before turning back to watch Cody put the blocker on Obi-Wan, who was shaking a bit, stressed from and nervous about his heat, but willingly baring his neck to Cody, trusting.

The image was enough to- well, Rex had always known that he was, at heart, a bit of a traditionalist. To see their future omega bare his neck…

Rex couldn’t help but want to see Obi-Wan in an omega collar. He imagined it would be simple and subtle, to suit Obi-Wan’s taste, resting beneath the claiming bites Cody and Rex would eventually get him to ask for, a few designs carved into the collar to let everyone know Obi-Wan was part of the Fett family. That he was theirs.


End file.
